Thursday, January 29, 2015

[The Independent] The world has entered an era of “peak food” production with an array
of staples from corn and rice to wheat and chicken slowing in growth –
with potentially disastrous consequences for feeding the planet.
New research finds that the supply of 21 staples, such as eggs, meat,
vegetables and soybeans is already beginning to run out of momentum,
while the global population continues to soar.
Peak chicken was in 2006, while milk and wheat both peaked in 2004
and rice peaked way back in 1988, according to new research from Yale
University, Michigan State University and the Helmholtz Centre for
Environmental Research in Germany.
What makes the report particularly alarming is that so many crucial
sources of food have peaked in a relatively short period of history, the
researchers said.
“People often talk of substitution. If we run out of one substance we
just substitute another. But if multiple resources are running out,
we’ve got a problem. Mankind needs to accept that renewable raw
materials are reaching their yield limits worldwide,” said Jianguo
“Jack” Liu, of Michigan State University.
“This is a strong reason for integration ... rather than searching
for a one-for-one substitution to offset shortages,” he added.
Peak production refers to the point at which the growth in a crop,
animal or other food source begins to slow down, rather than the point
at which production actually declines. However, it is regarded as a key
signal that the momentum is being lost and it is typically only a matter
of time before production plateaus and, in some cases, begins to fall –
although it is unclear how long the process could take.
“Just nine or 10 plants species feed the world. But we found there’s a
peak for all these resources. Even renewable resources won’t last
forever,” said Ralf Seppelt, of the Helmholtz Centre.
The research, published in the journal Ecology and Society, finds
that 16 of the 21 foods examined reached peak production between 1988
and 2008.
This synchronisation of peak years is all the more worrying because
it suggests the whole food system is becoming overwhelmed, making it
extremely difficult to resurrect the fortunes of any one foodstuff, let
alone all of them, the report suggested. Read More

Monday, January 26, 2015

[Business Insider] The risk of extreme weather events
from La Niña in the Pacific Ocean could double due to climate change,
researchers say. The projected twofold increase in
frequency could lead to more droughts, floods in the western Pacific regions
and Atlantic hurricanes. Weather patterns could switch
between extremes of wet and dry.

El Niño and La Niña events are
opposite phases of the natural climate phenomenon, the El Niño/Southern
Oscillation. Extreme La Niña events occur when cold sea surface temperatures in
the central Pacific Ocean contrast with the warming land areas of Maritime
Southeast Asia in the west.

The latest research suggests
increased land warming, coupled with an increase in frequency of extreme El
Niño events, will mean extreme La Niña could occur every 13 years, rather than
the 23 years previously seen.

Professor Mat Collins from the
University of Exeter says: “Our previous research showed a doubling in
frequency of extreme El Niño events, and this new study shows a similar fate
for the cold phase of the cycle. It shows again how we are just beginning to
understand the consequences of global warming.”

The results of the research, led by CSIRO scientist
Dr Wenju Cai, are published in the scientific journal Nature Climate Change.

Friday, January 23, 2015

[Washington Post] Last year, we learned what is probably the worst global warming news yet — that we may have irrevocably destabilized
the massive ice sheet of West Antarctica, which contains the equivalent
of nearly 11 feet of sea level rise. The rate of West Antarctic ice
loss has been ominously increasing, and there are fears that if too much
goes, the slow and long-term process of ice sheet disintegration could
accelerate.
Humans have a hard time conceiving of the incredible
scale of an ice sheet, so the consequences of such a change can be lost
upon us. But in a new paper in the Proceedings of the Institution of
Civil Engineers — Forensic Engineering, researchers Ted Scambos of the
National Snow and Ice Data Center in Boulder, Colo., and John Abraham of
the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minn. – summarize what we now know about West Antarctica. That includes a finding that may serve as a wake-up call for Americans in particular.
Namely:
If West Antarctica collapses entirely — a process that would likely
play out over centuries, but that could substantially begin in this
one – the expected 11 feet of sea level rise won’t just spread out
evenly across the ocean. The United States will actually get a lot more sea
level rise than many other parts of the world — possibly over 14 feet.
Call it geophysical karma — we’re the nation most responsible for global
warming and, at least in this particular case, we’ll get more of the
consequences.
So what source of cosmic equity will mete out just
deserts in this case? As it turns out — and the mechanisms will be
explained in much more detail below — the answer is none other than Isaac Newton’s law of universal gravitation
— which states that all objects in the universe attract one another in
relation to their masses (and the distance between them). Read More

Friday, January 16, 2015

[Washington Post] At the rate things are going, the Earth in the coming decades could
cease to be a “safe operating space” for human beings. That is the
conclusion of a new paper published Thursday in the journal Science by 18 researchers trying to gauge the breaking points in the natural world.
The
paper contends that we have already crossed four “planetary
boundaries.” They are the extinction rate; deforestation; the level of
carbon dioxide in the atmosphere; and the flow of nitrogen and
phosphorous (used on land as fertilizer) into the ocean.
“What
the science has shown is that human activities — economic growth,
technology, consumption — are destabilizing the global environment,”
said Will Steffen, who holds appointments at the Australian National
University and the Stockholm Resilience Center and is the lead author of
the paper.
These are not future problems, but rather urgent matters, according
to Steffen, who said that the economic boom since 1950 and the
globalized economy have accelerated the transgression of the boundaries.
No one knows exactly when push will come to shove, but he said the
possible destabilization of the “Earth System” as a whole could occur in
a time frame of “decades out to a century.”

The
researchers focused on nine separate planetary boundaries first
identified by scientists in a 2009 paper. These boundaries set
theoretical limits on changes to the environment, and include ozone
depletion, freshwater use, ocean acidification, atmospheric aerosol
pollution and the introduction of exotic chemicals and modified
organisms.

Beyond each planetary boundary is a “zone of
uncertainty.” This zone is meant to acknowledge the inherent
uncertainties in the calculations, and to offer decision-makers a bit of
a buffer, so that they can potentially take action before it’s too late
to make a difference. Beyond that zone of uncertainty is the unknown —
planetary conditions unfamiliar to us. Read More

Monday, January 12, 2015

[New York Times] Over
just a few decades in the mid-20th century, this small country chopped
down a majority of its ancient forests. But after a huge conservation
push and a wave of forest regrowth, trees now blanket more than half of
Costa Rica.

Far
to the south, the Amazon forest was once being quickly cleared to make
way for farming, but Brazil has slowed the loss so much that it has done
more than any other country to limit the emissions leading to global
warming.

And
on the other side of the world, in Indonesia, bold new promises have
been made in the past few months to halt the rampant cutting of that
country’s forests, backed by business interests with the clout to make
it happen.

In
the battle to limit the risks of climate change, it has been clear for
decades that focusing on the world’s immense tropical forests — saving
the ones that are left, and perhaps letting new ones grow — is the
single most promising near-term strategy.

That
is because of the large role that forests play in what is called the
carbon cycle of the planet. Trees pull the main greenhouse gas, carbon
dioxide, out of the air and lock the carbon away in their wood and in
the soil beneath them. Destroying them, typically by burning, pumps much
of the carbon back into the air, contributing to climate change.

Over
time, humans have cut down or damaged at least three-quarters of the
world’s forests, and that destruction has accounted for much of the
excess carbon that is warming the planet.

But
now, driven by a growing environmental movement in countries that are
home to tropical forests, and by mounting pressure from Western
consumers who care about sustainable practices, corporate and government
leaders are making a fresh push to slow the cutting — and eventually to
halt it. In addition, plans are being made by some of those same
leaders to encourage forest regrowth on such a giant scale that it might
actually pull a sizable fraction of human-released carbon dioxide out
of the air and lock it into long-term storage.

With
the recent signs of progress, long-wary environmental groups are
permitting themselves a burst of optimism about the world’s forests.

“The
public should take heart,” said Rolf Skar, who helps lead forest
conservation work for the environmental group Greenpeace. “We are at a
potentially historic moment where the world is starting to wake up to
this issue, and to apply real solutions.”

Still,
Greenpeace and other groups expect years of hard work as they try to
hold business leaders and politicians accountable for the torrent of
promises they have made lately. The momentum to slow or halt
deforestation is fragile, for many reasons. And even though rich Western
governments have hinted for years that they might be willing to spend
tens of billions of dollars to help poor countries save their forests,
they have allocated only a few billion dollars.

Around
the world, trees are often cut down to make room for farming, and so
the single biggest threat to forests remains the need to feed growing
populations, particularly an expanding global middle class with the
means to eat better. Saving forests, if it can be done, will require
producing food much more intensively, on less land. Read More

Sunday, January 11, 2015

[Inquisitir] A rare and complex ice halo appeared in
the sky above New Mexico on Friday, as a record breaking arctic blast
continued to make its way across the country.
The optical phenomenon was photographed above the town of Red River,
which has experienced sub-zero temperatures in recent days, according to
the Daily Mail.
Ice crystals suspended in the air interact with sunlight, creating a
dazzling display of rings and arcs. The halos can be created either by
sunlight or moonlight, and often occur within 24 hours before
precipitation is expected. Read More

Friday, January 09, 2015

Yesterday marks the last week of Shamballa - the week of Celebration of Spiritual Fire. This time is set aside for personal purification, intentions, reflection, and meditation for the upcoming year. It is alleged that the Brotherhoods and Sisterhoods of Light review plans for the following 365 days, and a candle is lit for each of the Seven Rays. Each candle signifies the seven Hermetic Laws, featured in this wonderful YouTube by Leurona Star. - Lori

Wednesday, January 07, 2015

This week marks the end of the third week of Shamballa – a
week revering love, friendship, and soul families. Throughout the years we have
had many significant friends and supporters of our work at I AM America, and I
would be remiss to not remember two amazing friends who passed away this year. - Lori

Jean Benson

Our beautiful Jean made her transition into spirit on March
23, 2014. She had been ill for several years. Jean moved to Payson in 1999 and
soon discovered that the I AM America office was also located in the stunning
Rim Country of Arizona. After attending one of our local seminars she offered
to volunteer in our office and with her background in accounting and business
practice Jean was more than a perfect fit – there wasn’t anything in our office
that she couldn’t handle. For over twelve years Jean rolled maps, helped to
pack customer orders, ran errands, delivered orders to the post office, and
picked up the mail. But more importantly, Jean was always available to share
her insight and keen, practical problem solving. She was a ready ear for any
predicament, designed and built storage solutions from discarded cardboard
boxes, organized and cleaned the wrap n’ pack area, saved packing materials for
books, fed the cats and watered plants if we were away, and told Len (like a
doting mother) when to change his shirt or get a haircut. And if you ordered
anything from I AM America several years ago, no doubt you wouldn’t have
received that book or map without Jean’s help. In essence, she was our trusted
and beloved friend.

Velma Jean Benson was born in Seattle on October 18, 1933. She graduated
from Puyallup High School in 1951, but the course of life would inevitably lead
her to California, where she lived for many years and raised three sons as a
single mother. She shared many stories about raising her boys and their
adventures camping on the beaches of the Pacific Ocean and traveling to the Salton Sea. After her sons left home she returned to
college and entered the professional world working as an accountant. During
this time Jean took up golf, and won several local championships.

A debilitating stroke changed Jean’s life in 1996. Yet Jean
rallied, and re-taught herself how to walk, drive a car, and most importantly, how
to read again. Spiritual topics always piqued her interest, and Jean especially
enjoyed the works of Edgar Cayce, past-life regression, and of course Ascended
Master teaching. After Jean joined our volunteer staff in 2001 we had many
interesting conversations about Ascension and the Violet Flame, subjects close to
her heart. Pictures of the Ascended Masters adorned her office and work-space
alongside the latest photos of her grandchildren and great-grandchildren. They
were all her “dear ones.”

Jean, you are our eternal “dear one.” And although we know
you are just a breath away from our Earthly dimension, you are missed from our
holiday table and family events. You taught us well, and left us the valuable
gifts of unending devotion, practical grit, and the precious action of love.
Come back soon.

Sherry Takala

Our cherished friend and mentor, Sherry Takala, passed onward
to the spiritual planes on June 5, 2014. Sherry was an influential voice and
advocate of the I AM America Spiritual Teachings, and organized and managed my
fledgling company’s first office in 1990. Sherry also monitored many trance
sessions, and her invaluable contribution to these spiritual teachings is
memorialized in the autobiographical book, “Sisters of the Flame,” released in
early 2014.

“Sisters of the Flame,” is the story about four women and
others from surrounding rural Idaho
communities who gathered around Sherry’s kitchen table in the summer of 1990,
and participated in numerous trance sessions with spirit guides, angels, and
spiritual teachers. Sherry organized and facilitated the weekly sessions which
proved to be a significant help to women struggling with life’s important
questions surrounding children, job security, relationships, and their
continued spiritual growth and development. A surprising story for conventional
thinkers, but if you knew Sherry Takala this is no surprise at all. Sherry was
always helping someone. In fact, it was the lifeblood of her existence.

Sherry was an accomplished and talented fine artist. She
taught painting and many of her landscapes hung in galleries and local cafes.
An avid Tarot Reader, Sherry worked closely with Saint Germain to design a
whimsical Tarot Deck based on gnomes, salamanders, undines, and sylphs. Her
seasoned knowledge of this topic added Master Cards like Astral Travel and
Universal Love, alongside insightful illustrated cards of Major Life Lessons
that included Denial, Addiction, Intuition, and Joy. When we began to work on the
world Earth Changes information, she immediately crafted large cartographic
renderings of Canada, Mexico,
Central, and South America. These maps were
published in the first edition of “New World Atlas, Volume One.” After one of many
conversations prior to the release of “Sisters of the Flame,” Sherry painted a
possible cover for the title (pictured above) depicting the generational feminine passage into universal knowledge. She telephoned before she mailed
the canvas, “I’ve sent another painting – it is a special piece for you and
Len.” I eagerly tore the brown paper from the package to reveal a colorful
soaring eagle.

I have certainty that Sherry is soaring like an eagle in her
beloved spirit world. She was connected to its
profound knowledge every minute, and her treasured advice helped many to segue difficulty into
solution, victimization into empowerment, and sorrow into comfort and healing. Rest in
peace my friend, fellow traveler, teacher, and soul-mate; we will joyfully meet
again.

Sherry’s obituary follows, as it appeared online in the
Lewiston Morning Tribune, June 12, 2014:

Sherry (Mallory) Takala began her life adventure on May 26, 1938, in Logan, Utah.
She grew up on a farm caring for animals, but discovered early her love for painting
and art in all mediums. In adulthood, she moved to Nevada and worked as a showgirl, keno writer
and pit boss while raising her two children and painting on the side whenever
she could. Eventually she left Nevada
to pursue her love of painting and the wilderness.

Being a gypsy at heart, she moved throughout all of the Western states. The
job she was most proud of was that of a battered women's counselor at the YWCA.
Finally she met the love of her life, Steve Takala. She followed him in his job
and eventually up to Alaska, where they mined
for gold in the Porcupine and also converted an old Navy landing craft into a
very unique bed and breakfast/fishing tackle store/art gallery in Haines, Alaska,
called "Noah's Art." Later, after returning to the lower 48 and
Steve's death, she took to the road again in her motor home searching for yet
new adventures. She landed for short visits in Lava Hot Springs, Orofino and
Kamiah, making many friends and learning new skills such as ham radio
operation, which came in handy while working with the Idaho search and rescue crews.

Sherry was preceded in death by her parents, Wallace and Adlissa Mallory; her brother, Brett Mallory; and by her beloved husband, Steve Takala. She is survived by brothers Kim, Cleve and Ronnie Mallory; and by sisters Vicki Wolfsen and Lara Coley. She is also survived by her daughter, Kathleen; son-in-law Lloyd Gilman; and their children, Tawnia, Tennille, Zack, and Porsha; and by great-grandson Clark "Super Baby" Gilman; and also by her son, Bill Carver; daughter-in-law Cindy; and grandson James Carver. She is also survived by many friends, students and followers of both her mystical and art talents and training.

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About LORI TOYE

Author and mystic Lori Toye has written fourteen books dealing with geographic changes in the Earth and how we can respond to these changes to create peace and harmony and advance our own spiritual growth and self-development. Topics include "Building the Seamless Garment - Revealing the Secret Teachings of Ascension and the Golden Cities," a book filled with lessons that focus on the hidden teachings of Ascension - the spiritual and mental process and the spiritual techniques that can free us from the confines of the need to reincarnate. Toye also created the first Earth Changes Map in 1989 delineating future changes to the Earth's geography, as well as the I AM America Atlas, a full color atlas of the I AM America Maps, featuring many new maps and prophecies. Originally published more than 20 years ago before public awareness of the serious environmental issues of Global Warming and Climate Change, Lori has been featured on NBC, FOX, UPN, London's Carlton Television, the Washington Post, and the New York Times.